These schools are in completely different areas, so that might be the easiest way to decide on it...urban/rural?

Aside from that, you could do some digging in their employment data and see how well each of them places into California firms.

The other question is how much money is a concern to you...for schools ranked #6 and #7, 54k sounds like a lot of loans to take on for one notch up in the rankings. I don't think either school has a particular strength in patents, so I would think this decision comes down to three considerations: 1) urban/rural, 2) CA placement, and 3) money. From there it all depends on your preferences.

As an NYU student and occasional NYU troll, I still voted Michigan here. NYU's edge over Michigan in rankings and placements etc. is not going to hold up too well in a contest to get into CA patent law...so I figure you should take the money and run. Other then that, yea the other posters questions may have some bearing, but that scholly money + cost of living difference is pretty huge. Especially curious as to why Boalt isn't an option here.